The kit automatically loads plates, direct from the pallet, onto the Kodak Magnus VLF Quantum platesetter at Augsburg-based Himmer AG.

The large-format specialist commissioned the loader in July 2007 to replace a Kodak ContinuousLoad system, which required manual operation.

Hannes Eisele, chairman of the supervisory board at Himmer AG, said it bought the pallet loader because it wanted "to have one active and one reserve plate stack in the system for both the eight and the 3B format during the night shift, which is completely unattended".

The company produces a high volume of short-run material, such as schoolbooks, which are often only approved days before a term starts.

Eisele said "just-in-time production is increasingly in demand" and that titles are "often not approved by the education authorities until immediately before the start of the new year".

"In another instance, we were expected to have a book about the Pope ready a mere three days after his visit."

The machine, which can load up to 3,600 plates without the need for manual handling, features a large-capacity slipsheet storage system that allows for easy disposal or reuse of slipsheet paper.